The recovery of the ocean container industry – possibly by late 2016 or 2017 – is to be based around the formation of the new mega alliances and the continued reduction of unit costs, rather than the matching of supply and demand at the individual trade route level, according to Drewry's Container Annual Review & Forecast 2014/15. A different recovery is taking shape, which is unlikely to be built on any improvement in freight rates.

Drewry's latest Dry Bulk Forecaster reports that coal has been the recent saviour of the dry bulk market. Global GDP grew by 3.2 percent in 2012, following growth of 5.2 percent and 4.0 percent in the post-recession years of 2010 and 2011. This slowdown blighted dry bulk cargo volumes and in turn tonnage demand. Global steel production, reflecting industrial and growth activity around the world, grew by only 1.3 percent in 2012, with a subsequent impact on iron ore and coking coal trade.